This invention provides a storm plug packer apparatus and method for securely and reversibly packing a cased well, allowing fast and safe removal of the drill string above the plug in circumstances such as in an evacuation ahead of a storm, and fast and safe resumption of drilling operations afterward, and allows operations by other tools that need to be temporarily fixed to the inside of the casing.
In drilling operations, it is sometimes necessary to pull coiled tubing out of the hole for a day or several days in order to either repair or replace equipment or to secure equipment and personnel against hazards such as an approaching storm. It is often desirable to avoid pulling the entire workstring or parts of the workstring out of the hole, but if the workstring is left in the hole, then it must be secured in place against the casing, and it must be possible to re-attach to the workstring upon resuming drilling operations. Because the tubing will, or might, be disconnected from the workstring, no hydraulic fluid can be supplied in order to keep hydraulic-dependent packers deployed or to adjust the amount of gripping force that the packers exert on the casing.
In addition, the use of certain other tools creates a need to temporarily fix the workstring in position against the casing, and then to release the workstring to move within the hole, preferably without having to pull out of the hole and add a trip in the process.
The prior art does not provide for a storm plug packer that operates independently of the hydraulic fluid and that can be set and unset, and can adjust the pressure exerted on the casing, according to the balance of upward and downward pull acting on the storm plug packer.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,273,523 for a “Tubular Running Device and Method,” issued on Mar. 1, 2016 to assignee 2M-TEK, Inc., provides for a method and apparatus for running tubulars into a well bore for use with a top drive or power swivel. The system comprises a make-up assembly with inner and outer members, one of which has an array of ramped or inclined surfaces, while the other is an inner or outer cage with rolling supports with or without a central spindle and openings, which may also be referred to as a tubular engagement apparatus. Relative movement of the members urges the rolling supports to protrude radially through the openings to engage a tubular, internally or externally. Also provided is an elevator assembly with elevator links and transfer elevators to position the tubular for engagement by the make-up assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,472 for a “Rapid Installation Tube Gripper,” issued on Feb. 17, 1987 to assignee Combustion Engineering, Inc., provides for a gripper device developed for attachment to the inside of a tube, and includes a shaft member with an upper tapered portion surrounded by a generally cylindrical sleeve member with at least two holes opposite the tapered portion of the shaft. The sleeve outer diameter is slightly less than the inner diameter of the tube targeted for attachment. A spring is connected between the shaft member and the sleeve member, for biasing the tapered shaft downwardly relative to the sleeve. A round bearing or hard ball is located in each hole, such that downward motion of the shaft relative to the sleeve urges the balls outwardly to protrude from the sleeve surface against the tube wall. The device is installed by pushing on the stem at the lower end of the shaft member to insert the device into the tube. A flange is formed at the lower end of the sleeve to limit the sleeve insertion into the tube. In that manner, the tapered portion may be pushed longitudinally upward relative to the holes, whereby the balls are retracted into the sleeve and the device may be installed into or removed from the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,552,764 for a “Tubular Handling Device,” issued on Jun. 30, 2009 to assignee Nabors Global Holdings, Ltd., provides for a tubular handling apparatus with a slotted member having a plurality of elongated slots, each extending in a direction; a recessed member slidably coupled to the slotted member and featuring a plurality of recesses each tapered in the direction from a shallow end to a deep end; and a plurality of rolling members, each retained between one of the recesses and one of the slots. Each rolling member partially extends through the adjacent slot when located in the shallow end of the recess, and each rolling member retracts within an outer perimeter of the slotted member when located in a deep end of the recess. The apparatus may further comprise a plurality of biasing elements, each biasing a corresponding one of the rolling members towards the shallow end of the corresponding recess.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,445,050 for a “Tubular Running Tool,” issued on Nov. 4, 2008 to assignee Canrig Drilling Technology, Ltd., provides for an apparatus for handling a tubular segment, coupling the tubular segment with a tubular string for handling the tubular string in a well bore. The apparatus has a tubular engagement assembly that connects to a drive shaft of a top drive. The tubular engagement assembly has a self-engaging ball and taper assembly that releasably engages the tubular segment. When the tubular engagement assembly connects to the drive shaft and the ball and taper assembly engages the tubular segment, any rotation in the drive shaft results in rotation of the tubular segment. That rotation in turn allows the tubular segment to engage the tubular string.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,140 for a “Gripping Device,” issued on Jun. 29, 2010 to assignee BSW Limited, provides for a mooring connector or pipeline recovery tool comprising a mandrel, around which is concentrically disposed a ball cage with balls protruding therefrom so that relative longitudinal movement of the mandrel and ball cage causes the balls to ascend ramped surfaces of the mandrel, thus to protrude outwardly through the ball cage. The conventional arrangement of balls in regular rows and columns is replaced by helical rows or random arrays of the balls, thus to avoid excessive grooving and deformation of the wall of a receptor into which the connector is inserted. Specifically, the gripping device comprises a first elongate member; a plurality of ramped surfaces spaced apart thereon the elongate member; and a second elongate member superimposed with respect to the ramped surfaces of the first elongate member. The second elongate member is tubular and of circular cross-section, having the first elongate member concentrically disposed within it. The device also includes a plurality of rolling members captively retained within apertures of the second elongate member, so as to reside respectively on the ramped surfaces of the first elongate member; means permitting relative movement of the first and second elongate members in a longitudinal direction of the tubular second elongate member to cause the rolling members to ascend the ramped surfaces so as to protrude partially through their respective apertures. The device is particularly characterized in that the rolling members and their respective ramped surfaces and apertures are disposed in helical arrays about the device, such that from one end of the second elongate member to an opposite end of the second elongate member, no axially directed continuous spaces remain between the rolling members.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,477 for “Clamps,” issued on Oct. 19, 1999 to assignee Robert Emmett, provides for a clamp that comprises a tubular support with a number of axially spaced sets of angularly spaced apertures for receiving spheres engageable with the exterior of a pipe and with tapered surfaces on a clamp body. In use, a spring urges the support down in relation to the body to cause the spheres to grip the pipe. Rams can raise the support to release the clamp, whereupon the spheres can enter recesses in the body. The apertures may be axially elongated to accommodate a degree of pipe ovality and have diverging walls for the same purpose. A form of the clamp for gripping a pipe interior is also disclosed. The clamp may have one or more seals for sealing against the pipe, and two oppositely acting clamps may form a connector for two pipes. Specifically, the internal form of the clamp is self-engaging and self-disengaging. On being lowered, the ball cage enters the pipe and allows the body to move down and for the balls to retract radially inwards. The load is then slowly applied by raising the body and the pipe gripped by the balls, which are moved outwards. On disengagement, the load is removed and the body moves down as before. The clamp is then quickly removed and disengaged. A hydraulic damper pivoted to the cage and body is attached to the body and cage by pins, one of which is engaged in an axial slot and allows a certain amount of free movement of the body within the ball cage. The damper acts as a time delay. Thus, when it is desired to release the pipe, the body is lowered, compressing the damper, and the balls move inwards, releasing the grip. Before the damper can return to its extended datum position, the whole clamp is lifted out of the end of the pipe or casing.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,179,594 for a “Well Tool,” issued on Nov. 14, 1939 to inventor Albert E. Johnson, provides for a device for setting and pulling sand points in an oil well, or for fishing lost pipe from a well. The well tool comprises a body, having a shank; a cam shoulder about the lower end of the shank; a threaded portion at the upper end of the shank; a sleeve, fitting loosely about the shank and formed with openings through its wall; gripping members movable radially of the sleeve through the openings from a retracted position to an extended position, where the gripping members are movable to the extended position by engagement with the cam shoulder when the sleeve is in a lowered position, where the shank has a radial pocket and the sleeve has an opening adapted to aligned with the pocket for insertion of the gripping members; a removable plug normally filling the pocket; and a collar carried by the upper end of the sleeve and internally threaded for engagement with the threaded portion to releasably hold the sleeve in a raised position.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 9,797,207 for an “Actuator Assembly for Tubular Running Device,” issued on Oct. 24, 2017 to assignee 2M-TEK, Inc., provides for an actuator assembly developed for operating a tubular running device, and includes a housing assembly coupled to the outer cage. The housing assembly is movable relative to the inner mandrel. An upper fluid chamber is disposed between the housing assembly and the inner mandrel, and a lower fluid chamber is disposed between the housing assembly and the inner mandrel. Fluid pumped through an upper pressure port into the upper chamber moves the housing assembly in a first direction, thereby causing the gripping apparatus to engage the tubular, and fluid pumped through a lower pressure port into the lower fluid chamber moves the housing assembly in a second direction, thereby causing the gripping apparatus to disengage the tubular.
What is needed is a storm plug packer that operates independently of the hydraulic fluid and that can be set and unset, and can adjust the pressure exerted on the casing, according to the balance of upward and downward pull acting on the storm plug packer.